Why does eating popcorn cause my mouth to dry?

[Montfort]

Subject says it all, really. I was eating unbuttered popcorn from my hot-air popper last night and it dehydrated me.

Why?

[BarBQSauce]

salt??

[Zenster]

Next time you make some popcorn try this simple experiment:

[li]Fill a quart container with freshly popped corn[/li]
[li]Slowly pour in a measured quantity of cold water[/li]
[li]Stop when water begins to puddle in the bottom[/li]
[li]Note carefully the amount of water absorbed[/li]
Ponder the relationship between the experiment’s results and the resulting condition of your mouth after ingestion of said (unmoistened) popcorn

[SkeptiJess]

Following up on what Zenster said, I note that most of the answers to Life’s Puzzling Questions can be found in the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder:

[Almanzo] thought that if he had some milk, he would have popcorn and milk. You can fill a glass full to the brim with milk, and fill another glass of the same size brim full of popcorn, and then you can put all the popcorn kernel by kernel into the milk, and the milk will not run over. you cannot do this with bread. Popcorn and milk are the only two things that will go into the same place. – Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Apparently, popcorn will suck the fluid off a trailer hitch – or something like that. It’s mighty darned absorbant is what I mean!

[Enola_Straight]

Another point you may wish to consider:
Popcorn dosen’t make your mouth water like an orange or a juicy steak.
Its lack of salivation.